Rivian just pulled a surprise—it announced an all-electric hatchback called the R3—giving the company a big Apple-like “one more thing” announcement at the event that was ostensibly supposed to be about its new R2 SUV.
The hatch shares many design similarities with the Honda e, another electric hatchback that captured the minds of many prospective EV buyers a few years ago and is reminiscent of the boxier Volkswagen Golf. And it represents a whole new market of smaller electric vehicles that Rivian can test and play in — crucially, one that Tesla currently dominates. While we knew Rivian was working on an “R3”, I’m not sure many people expected it to be quite like this.
Unfortunately, the company didn’t immediately share any real details about when the R3 will be available or how much it will cost. It’s likely still years away from production. CEO RJ Scaringe hinted on stage at Thursday’s event that it will be built at the company’s new plant in Georgia, which has yet to be built.
Image Credits: Rivian
What we do know is that the R3 will have a slightly shorter wheelbase compared to the R2 — 2800mm versus 2935mm — and there will be a sporty, colorful R3X variant. It will be built on the R2’s platform (which won’t cause confusion) and will be “more affordable” than the $45,000 R2. Like the R2, the R3 will be available in single, twin and triple engine versions. Unlike the R2, the company is not yet accepting pre-orders.
“[R3] it takes the R2’s packaging and platform, shrinks it, fits it into our idea of what a crossover is and . . . it’s almost hard to define what it is, but it captures our brand so beautifully and captures what we stand for as a company,” Scaringe said during the event.
Still, it’s something of an opportunity for the company, which plans to build about as many cars this year as in 2023 — news that Wall Street didn’t take well. The R3 is a short-term fix for that, apparently, as Rivian’s share price soared after the surprise reveal.
Many questions remain, especially about price and range, or whether what we saw Thursday is even a working prototype. But it’s refreshing to see a company that started out with huge, heavy pickup trucks and SUVs is working on something much more accessible and, perhaps, even more affordable.
Image Credits: TechCrunch
